Psalm 50:15 "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me."

Good morning. It's Thursday, April 21, 2016, and I bid you a hearty welcome to our visit for the day. On Tuesday afternoon, the wife made somewhat of an emergency trip over to Louisiana to be with her sister who had become very ill with a virus type ailment. She had to be hospitalized. The trip over there was not without incident since she had to do a long detour due to some water related road closures. Thank God she made it okay and thank God her sister is getting better. I will tell you one thing. In this life, we don't have to manufacture drama because it seems to come calling, typically unannounced. During these past few days, certain images stick with you. While the flooded homes are sad, seeing the live feed of several assisted living places being evacuated was heartbreaking. Seeing these elderly folks with bewildered looks on their faces, many in wheelchairs, being loaded onto the back of one of those high water trucks, well, it brought tears to my eyes. Maybe it's because I am closer to that age than I have ever been before? I certainly hope not. I suppose it has something to do with their helpless condition. Along with their age. The wife and I are living proof that you can recover from devastating storm damage and we will never forget the challenge it presented to us. It will likely be much harder for these seniors. May God bless each one of them as they attempt to cope and recover. Amen.

Rescue via refrigerator!

What? Does that mean I am home alone? Again? It does. You would think I would get used to it. Last Sunday when she returned I told her I was glad that she was home. She simply said she knew that I was. It may have had something to do with how many times I asked when she was coming home. I do hope she gets back before Saturday. That's her birthday. The many press conferences held during this rain crisis were instructional. Federal, state, county, and city officials were there to provide critical information for their constituents. I appreciate the difficult situation these people are in. Something as widespread as this flooding event is not going to be handled to every person's satisfaction. History tells us the fate of elected officials is often tied to how emergencies are managed. Knowing that, they must continue to do the political stuff while also trying to do the rescue stuff. One thing I could do without is all the passing out of accolades to each other. That takes up a lot of time. Spending an inordinate amount of time thanking everyone involved including calling the individual names of those at the federal, state, and local level makes the press conference seem more like a meeting of the mutual admiration society than one that is focused on the serious issues at hand. Just me. I know they know they have to try and keep their jobs. That's how the system works. But, couldn't they cut back a little on all the praise and deal more directly with those impacted by the storm?

I suppose we all look back and think how this has been a strange week. Then we think about life itself and it often seems to be one strange week after another. I've been around long enough to say that's pretty much how it goes. It is true. We really never know what a week, a day, or even what might happen in the next hour. At the same time, we can be sure that we are secure in having God as our Father, Jesus as our Savior, and the Holy Spirit as He who abides within us. It was clear to me from the images on our TV screen that these floods had no respect with regard to neighborhood, race, or class. Million dollar homes were flooded alongside low rent apartment complexes. Sure. The more affluent will likely be able to muster more resources as they deal with the aftermath, but, I can assure us all that it is not an easy ride for anyone. As I drove out of our subdivision this morning I could see many houses that had most of the occupants' worldly possessions parked out on the street waiting for them to be hauled off. I'm talking about huge stacked up amounts of furniture, appliances, carpets, sheetrock, and personal items. Here's what I say. Only God can help you through something like this. We know that to be true. Been there. Done that. I pray that everyone will seek Him during this difficult time of recovery. Amen. .....More later.